Yankees general manager and senior vice president Brian Cashman spoke to reporters at Busch Stadium on Friday before the team’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. Addressing the club’s recent struggles, Cashman said he still believes in the roster’s ability to compete for the American League East title.
“We just need to win,” Cashman said when asked about turning things around. “The obvious answer to that question, to state the obvious, is we’ve got to win tonight’s game and keep it simple, one game at a time, but then string together win after win.”
The Yankees managed a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals in Friday’s game. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run home run and Luis Gil pitched 5 1/3 innings in his third start of the season. Jasson Domínguez and Aaron Judge also contributed RBIs as New York improved its record at Busch Stadium.
“I thought his at-bats were really good,” manager Aaron Boone said of Chisholm. “Obviously smokes the homer, but lines out his last time up, controlling the zone well. You know how he can impact the game when he’s locked in up there.”
Chisholm downplayed any special significance of his custom-painted bat used during Players’ Weekend: “I don’t think it’s the bat,” he said before showing off other color options for upcoming games.
Friday’s win was important for playoff positioning as Cleveland lost 2-0 to Atlanta, giving New York a slight edge for the final American League Wild Card spot with 1 1/2 games of clearance.
“Right now, we’re not in control of the division, so our first goal is to try to win the American League East and automatically punch the ticket that way,” Cashman said. “If not, we’ll be fighting to punch a ticket a different way. And there’s a lot of time on the clock, but not enough time at the same time. I don’t want to misrepresent there’s not urgency, because there is.”
Chisholm echoed this focus: “I feel like we need to step it up anyway, no matter if he was here or not,” he said regarding Cashman’s presence with the team. “No matter if he was here or not, we need to win games. We need to get to the playoffs and we need to win the World Series. That’s all our thought is right now.”
Luis Gil returned from an injury that kept him sidelined for five months this season due to a lat strain suffered during Spring Training. After struggling in his first outing back in Miami, Gil has since allowed only three earned runs across his next two starts.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Gil said through interpreter Marlon Abreu after Friday’s performance. “Trying to find a way to keep getting better each outing out there.”
Wins by both Toronto and Boston made Friday’s result even more crucial as teams continue competing closely within their division.
“This is a very hard sport, and nothing is taken for granted,” Cashman added about postseason competition within their division this year. “When I know this winter started, I looked at our division, and I knew it would be a dogfight. And obviously the first third, or maybe even the first half of the season, that didn’t look like that. It didn’t play out that way. But you don’t win anything in the first third or the first half.
“As the season’s played out, it’s played out as predicted — that this would be a dogfight.”
